"The lessons of knowing people are beyond the ancient and modern."
Zeng Guofan was an iron fan of Zhuge Liang. He had read this article many times, especially after he led the soldiers to fight, and admired Zhuge Liang's state of mind.
In the shu kingdom, wanting to go out of Guanzhong, the Northern Expedition to Cao Wei, the volunteer is grand, the situation is difficult and dangerous, and it is rare in ancient and modern times. But it is not difficult, but ambitious.
Zeng Guofan said: Zhuge Liang's article is magnificent and bright, and it cannot be written by people with far-sighted minds and subtle thoughts.

Zhuge Liang stills
Zhuge Liang's iron fans are almost perfect, and the number one fan is none other than Du Fu. He died before he could get out of the division, and the hero was in tears. Got an impression, right? More than a dozen of Du Fu's poems were written in praise of Zhuge Liang.
Why did Zeng Guofan, one of the iron fans, say: "Judging from the two clouds of doubt, Liang is a little inferior to me." What are the two "doubtful clouds"? What is liang "at all" inferior to him?
Zeng Guofan
In ancient times, there was Wang Yangming, and now there is Zeng Guofan.
Now people always like to compare Zeng Guofan and Wang Yangming. However, from the historical records, Zeng Guofan seems to be indifferent to Wang Yangming.
Zhuge Liang is one of Zeng Guofan's favorite historical figures, and he envies Zhuge Liang's ability to "make brilliant calculations, strategize, and win thousands of miles", and the spirit of "bowing down to exhaustion and only after death" is his pursuit in this life.
Tang Xuanzong set up a special temple sacrifice for ten famous generals in history, called the "Ten Philosophers of the Martial Temple", in order to tell the world about their military contributions and talents. The "Ten Philosophies of the Martial Temple" can represent the level of ancient Chinese military experts, and Zhuge Liang is impressively listed.
In the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Zhuge Liang is a god man who "knows astronomy from above and geography from below", and has the reputation of "Lying Dragon and Phoenix, one person can settle the world".
Zhuge Liang, who is almost perfect, has walked into our hearts little by little through the thousand years of age. Born in cloth, fortunate to be a famous teacher, read a lot of books, look at the past and the present, and have a heart. After TaoGuang raised obscurity in the deep mountain grass house, After Liu Beisan took care of MaoLu, he talked freely about the general trend of "three divisions of the world".
White clothes, lupines, strategize, decisive victory!
Bowangpo's plan of fire attack convinced Guan Zhang; Bendong Wu tongue battle group Ru reversed Qiankun; god-like grass boat borrowed arrows; burning Chibi to break a million Cao army; Zhou Yu's grief before his death: He Shengliang. The empty city plan frightened Sima Yi, and Meng Was captured by seven captures and seven columns, six out of Qishan, and Jiang Wei...
Although zhuge liang in the main history is not as mysterious as in the novel, he is still a great politician and military figure.
Later generations regretted that Zhuge Liang had failed to unify the three kingdoms, and left two "clouds of doubt" for people to argue endlessly.
Zhuge Liang slashed at the horse with tears
One of them is the tearful slashing of horses after the loss of the street pavilion, and the other is the determination to kill Wei Yan before dying.
In the fourth year of Xianfeng, Zeng Guofan trained troops out of the mountains, and he was eager to establish merit on the battlefield to prove that he was not a scholar on paper.
On the morning of the graduation, the whole martial arts arena was very lively. The morale of all the soldiers led by him was high, and with only one order from him, the army would open the city of Yuezhou to fight the Taiping Army.
The land and water armies were simultaneously dispatched, and arrived thirty miles away from Yuezhou City in a few days. Spies came to report that Yuezhou City was an empty city. Zeng Guofan won the first victory without a battle, and all the soldiers happily entered the city of Yuezhou.
The next night, Zeng Guofan's army, which had been taken lightly, was attacked by Lin Shaozhang's troops near Yuezhou City. Rushed to the battle, and finally lost and fled.
Zeng Guofan: The Taiping Army can't fight a small force, and it is even more delusional to talk about what battlefields to kill the enemy and make meritorious contributions, and to level the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
Humiliated, Zeng Guofan wanted to commit suicide by diving into the water, but was fortunately saved by the deputy general.
Afterwards, he thought hard and regained his confidence. Eager to win a war and shame on the snow, it was at this time that the spies came to report that there were only five hundred people stationed in Jinggang City.
With the lesson of the last defeat and escape, Zeng Guofan was cautious, carefully probed, and confirmed that there was no mistake before dispatching troops, thinking that this battle would undoubtedly be won. When his army gathered in Jinggang, he could not see the figure of half of the Taiping Army. Just when he was puzzled, he suddenly got a soaring cannon sound.
Zeng Guofan's heart was dripping blood: this was a trap for the Taiping Army. The soldiers were defeated and fled all the way to the river. He ordered the adjutant general to plant a large banner by the river and to stand under his sword. Grief and indignation shouted: "Those who have this flag, will not be forgiven!" ”
The fleeing soldiers bypassed the flag and boarded the ship to escape, and fought until the entire line collapsed in less than a meal.
Listening to the shouts of the pursuing soldiers behind him, "Catch zeng demon's head alive", Zeng Guofan's heart was like ashes: No! I am a second-class official of the imperial court, and instead of being captured alive and insulted, why not go on the road myself. Zeng Guofan, who wanted to commit suicide by diving again, was rescued by the vice general.
The peak turned around, and Zeng Guofan was later rescued and could only report the war situation to the imperial court. He had a good habit of double-checking the changes before each letter was sent. In this voluntary request for punishment, after careful consideration, he changed the disastrous results of repeated defeats to an indomitable report on the fighting spirit of "repeated defeats and repeated battles" and repeated battles.
Because of the difference in a word, he saved himself, and this persistent and stubborn spirit later achieved Zeng Guofan who "repaired Qi Zhiping and completed a person".
Zeng Guofan envied Zhuge Liang: In Liang's life, there were only a few failures. The loss of the street kiosk and the tears of the horse were considered to be the most painful defeat of Liang.
Although both were defeated, Zeng Guofan analyzed the reasons for the difference between the two.
Zeng Guofan believed: I failed because of my own limited ability, and I could not blame others. And Liang, the street kiosk was lost and the Qishan Mountain was returned without success, but it was improper to employ people. Ma Mo was a rare talent, and his strength was in the rear, and for some reason he put him in the front this time.
Image source network
Zeng Guofan's life has occasional twists and turns, and overall it is smooth sailing. Capture Jiangning, pursue and suppress the Twist Army, host foreign affairs, directly subordinate to political affairs, and return to Liangjiang.
Halfway through, Zeng Guofan returned home due to mourning, and the Xiang army created a new situation in the world, and the generals of the Xiang army were all from his men. Later, Zeng Guofan began to cultivate a successor, Zuo Zongtang was talented but very arrogant, and Zeng Guofan was willing to cultivate him. Li Hongzhang is delicious and lazy, and it seems that there are no advantages, but Zeng Guofan found that Li Hongzhang saw the problem to the point and pointed to the point.
Zuo Zongtang once said: Yuanfu, I am ashamed that I am inferior to him; I know people and use people, and I have a unique vision.
Li Hongzhang once said: Zeng Gong, who has worked with teachers and friends for nearly thirty years, has taught me the skills of learning;
In his lifetime, Zhuge Liang never wrongfully killed a person of his own. Tear-jerking is one of the "clouds of doubt", and there is not much controversy among future generations. But Wei Yan, whom he was destined to kill before his death, became the second "cloud of doubt", and later generations of people were very controversial about it.
Wei Yan can be said to be famous and has made countless military achievements. Zhuge Liang's sentence "back of his head" doomed his ending, and Wei Yan was a very tragic figure in the Three Kingdoms.
The people selected by Zhuge Liang to cultivate, including Jiang Huan, Fei Yi, and Jiang Wei, although they learned Liang's caution and care, they were far inferior to Zhuge Liang in observation and vision. There is no doubt that these three people are talents, and there is still a gap between them and the "talents of the pillars".
If he could take those who had vision and courage as his successors, Zhuge Liang would not be in a difficult situation in the Shu Kingdom after his death.
Zeng Guofan began to cultivate successors, his vision was eclectic, and his peach and plum were all over the world. Zuo Zongtang and Li Hongzhang, who were also two of the "four famous ministers of the late Qing Dynasty", and Shen Baozhen, who was also the governor of Liangjiang and the minister of Nanyang, were all former subordinates of Zeng Guofan, and these people were all leaders in the process of China's modernization and still have influence today.
Former residence of Zeng Guofan
It turned out that Zeng Guofan, who was known as "the first perfect person in China throughout the ages", "judging from the two doubts, Liang is a little inferior to me." It refers to the fact that in the selection and cultivation of heirs, Zhuge Liang is inferior to him by three points. Do you agree?
Zhuge Liang, whose legendary life we can only admire. Zeng Guofan, known as the "sage of modern times", although he is also unattainable, his life experience is more grounded, and he can see and touch. We can learn from him the skills of knowing, employing, gathering, and educating people. Do you agree?
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